Wes Moore welcomes grad transfer Raina Perez to N.C. State women’s basketball
One of the biggest losses this offseason for the N.C. State women’s basketball team was senior point guard Aislinn Konig, the MVP of the ACC Tournament in March.
Konig was one of four seniors Wes Moore has to replace, and last week on a Zoom call with the media, Moore hinted at possibly bringing in a graduate transfer to fill that void.
That problem was solved on Thursday as the Wolfpack announced the signing of guard Raina Perez. The 5-4 point guard is transferring from Cal State Fullerton. She’ll have one season of eligibility remaining and will be eligible to play for the 2020-21 season.
“We’re very excited to add such a prolific scorer as Raina Perez,” Moore said in a statement. “A combo guard, she can create her own shot while also keeping her teammates involved. With the recent graduation of three talented guards, Raina brings much-needed experience and scoring to the position.”
Last year with the Titans, Perez averaged 19.8 points per game, 5.4 rebounds and 4.2 assists. Perez can put the ball in the basket, scoring 30 or more points in a game four times last season, including a career-high 34 points three times. Perez started all 31 games last year.
She spent her first season of college basketball playing for Northern Arizona. The Goodyear, Arizona native was named the Big West Player of the Year last season. Her 19.8 ppg was good enough for 14th in the nation.
Perez will come in and compete with senior Kai Crutchfield and sophomore Kendal Moore for the starting point guard position. Crutchfield started 31 games last season at shooting guard and averaged 7.5 points per game, but also relieved Koing at point guard. Last week Moore talked about Crutchfield playing more of a point guard role as a senior.
Kendal Moore appeared in 15 games as a true freshman. She scored just six points on the season. Wes Moore said he wanted to see Moore become more of a floor leader next season.
“Kendal can really shoot the ball well, what we have to help her do is be a quarterback,” Wes Moore said. “She’s used to playing in a situation where she had to score 30 every night. Now in this situation we want our point guard to be a quarterback and get everybody involved and distribute the ball. This year we have to work on that.”
The graduation of Konig and Kaila Ealey, another backup point guard, means a bigger role for Kendal Moore next season. N.C. State also signed point guard Genesis Bryant, a 5-7 incoming freshman from Lovejoy, Ga.
“She was the Co-Player of the Year in her classification in Georgia, really heady player,” Wes Moore said about Bryant. “Now again, this is still a big jump from high school to the ACC, so we’ll wait and see.”
N.C. State returns four starters from last season’s ACC Tournament championship team.
